TbTRF suppresses the TERRA level and regulates the cell cycle-dependent TERRA foci number with a TERRA binding activity in its C-terminal Myb domain.

ABSTRACT: Telomere repeat-containing RNA (TERRA) has been identified in multiple organisms including Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite that causes human African trypanosomiasis. T. brucei regularly switches its major surface antigen, VSG, to evade the host immune response. VSG is expressed exclusively from subtelomeric expression sites, and we have shown that telomere proteins play important roles in the regulation of VSG silencing and switching. In this study, we identify several unique features of TERRA and telomere biology in T. brucei. First, the number of TERRA foci is cell cycle-regulated and influenced by TbTRF, the duplex telomere DNA binding factor in T. brucei. Second, TERRA is transcribed by RNA polymerase I mainly from a single telomere downstream of the active VSG. Third, TbTRF b

SUBMITTER: Saha A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8191777 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature